Apparatus for making mica-board.



W'. H. SILLS. APPARATUS POP. MAKING MXGA BOARD.

APPLICATION FILED vAPRIL 1912.

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nos'ras seien WILLIA'E' E.' sILLs, or cnzcaeo, Internets.

APPABATUsFoa MAKING Mica-Bonne.

T0 all fac/om it may wafer/z Be it known that l, 'VILLLUI HENRY SiLLs, a citizen of the United States, residing atChicago, in the county' of Cook and State ,of Illinois, llnited States of America, have invented new and useful Improvements Apparatus for lllaking Mica- Board, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to an apparatus for making mira board.

An object of the inventionA is to provide a device by means of which loose films of mica of irregular shape maybe assembled so as to form a cake or plate of micaA and may be held together by means of shellac or some other adhesive substance.

Another object of the invention is to provide a device for transferring loose films of mica by gravity from an elevated point to a support on which they are builtup to form a cake and to loosen up Athe packs of films on their path to said support.

Another object of the invention is to effect the loosening or breaking up of the mica films by means of a blast of air or some other gas, which blast is. directed substantially in opposite direction to that which the films follow in their conveyance to the suport. l p Another object of the invention is to provide a device for uniting lbose films ofmica on a support by means of shellacor another adhesive in solidform.

Anotherv object of the invention is to pr'o- ;vide an apparatusfor building mica plates from films by means of obstructions which are placed in the path of the loosened mica films to the support.

With 'these and other objects in View l have illustrated in the accompan ing drawing a diagrammatic section, part y in elevation, of anapparatus which may serve for .performing the invention mentioned above.

According;r to this method films of mica. are continuously ori intermittently carried to the receiving end ofn barrel or tower l,- the upper end 2 of which is open sov that the films of mica may readily enter the tower. The films are carried by gravity to the bottom 3 of the tower; at the bottom thereof a plate Ul' is removably disposed and servesv as a base for the cake or plate of mica to be formed. In order to break up the conglomerations or packs of films which enter the upper end of the tower and for the purpose of Specification of Letters Patent. Patented Mm'. Silla` MN5,

Application led April l, 1912. Serial No. 87,912.

dispersing said films so that they land on the base l at the lower end in the forni of a layer of approximately uniform thick ness, means are provided for intermittently or continuously directing a gust or puff of wind against the films in their passage through the tower.

Dispersion of' the films is supported by a plurality of obstructions in the path of the films.l ln the embodiment illustrated diagrammatically in the drawing` a plurality of rods 5, (l, 7, are shown disposed in several Vseries at different distances Afrom thi, upper end of the tower. The rods in each series extend transversely through the tower and'in a direction different from the rods in the series above or below.

In the embodiment of the invention which is illustrated the films are conveyed to the tower by means of buckets l() which are disposed on a carrying beit il, said belt being guided about the pulley 12 and being driven by some suitable means which are not shown in the drawing. successively the invertedl position the contents thereof will drop out and are conveyed by their own weight to a regulating and measuring device 13 which is shown at the top endof the tower. This regulating or collecting ydevice comprises a wheel 14 having a plurality of arms l5 and which is '-intermittently rotated by means of a rod ad ment of the eccentric is adapted to actuate a rod 2-ffor the purposes described below. It is obvious therefore that in the actuation of' the conveyer` bolt 1l the collecting and measuring device i3 also is actuated and ad mits intermittentlyy a certain amount of mica film into the top end of the tower..

The adhesive in form of dry powdered shellac or flakes of shellac, or such like may either be mixed with the films of mica in each of the buckets l() or some of the buckets of the carrier.- ll may.. contain mica film exclusively,- while other buckets thereon man tain the adhesive exclusively, so that the When the buckets reach if.

films as well as the flakes or grains of Shellac means yandfby the blast directed against the same. The' apparatus may 'also be modified by blowing, not only air but also an adhesive inthe form of fine powder or flakes against 5 the'mica ilms'which are dropped intothe tower, but the means'itor injecting the adhesive in this way is not illustratedin the drawing.. The arm 23 which is connected with the eccentric 18` actuates rod 2% which is connected with an arm 35 of a valve 26. "This Valve is interposed in a conduit leading from a reservoir 28 into the tower l. The free end of the conduit 27 extending from the reservoir is provided with a suitable nozzle or mouth piece Q9. An air pump connected with the reservoir 28 may be driven by any suitable means, which are not illusl trated in the drawing.

The method of manufacturing a mica,

plate by means of this device,isthe following: Mica tilms either' mixed with llaked shellac or powdered shellac or without' an). admixture of an adhesiveare placed'into the buckets 10,01l the conveyer l1; it may be advisable to weigh the amount of eacii'bucket before placing'it on the belt. The belt 'cari I l ries the buckets of mica mixed with shellac,

orl buckets of` micaI alternating with buckets of shellac to the pulley l2, at which vpoint the buckets l0 are inverted so as to emptyv their contents into the measuring device 12%.' At certain predetermined intervals this measure` 'ing and collecting device Willdischarge thc pack of l'ilms deposited into the upper lend of the tower and here the loose films are met by a blast of air or gas directed against the same and will therefore be dispersedv over gie entire area of the tower. OnV account of l e obstructions placed iny the. pathof 'the films this dispersion will be more completi-i and the films will gradually settle on the base plate which has previously been in-Y sertedinto the lower end of the tower. TheV door 31 which serves for insertion or removal of the plate is preferablylosed while the apparatus 1s in operation. After a'sullif cient amount of films and shellac hasV been deposited on'the support plate 4 said 'plate A with the deposit thereon is'Y Withdrawn and is either baked in some suitable mannerso 4'as to unite the films by means ofv the shellac or is vsubjected to pressure yWhile it is being ,into said tower,v said retaining dexjice exheated and whereby the same object *isy attained. It is .also obvious that. during the settling ofthe i'ilms on the support plate said plate or the lower end of the tower may be heated so as to melt the Vshcllac before the v deposit is withdrawn from the tower.

vThe described method and apparatus einbodies a large plurality ofimportant ad- Yantagesuover the' methods 'mn'. dexices f which are used. The iilins are deposited automatically while up to the present vtime most of the lboards were stacked up by hand. Another important advantage is, that shcllac or other adhesive is usedin dry condition rwhile most of the devices used heretofore relied upon soinc liquid oi; seini-liquid adhesive; shellc usually was liquefied by the addition oi' wood alcohol,` and as alcohol rapidly"evaporates, tlie'costvol this ingredicntfwasra considerable item in the manufacture ol". inica boards. Alcohol,Y also decreased tlie insulating poweroi' the liiiished product, land .it was ytliere'i'orc necessary yto remore the alcohol by pressing rthe board after stacking. l

.lclainrz` t V- u 'Y ,t ,y ln all. 'apparatus for making mica lboard the combinati-on of atoiie'r, means for conveying predeterminedamounts of mica lalres to said to wi r at thel toptheieot, a retaining dcvicegi'or the flakesmounted on top of the@ tou er .an-dadapted 'to discharge the material tcndingvinto theltoiieig!means for intermit-v .tcntly actuating said-retaining device torelea'setho materiaha nozzle' within the tower in alineinent with the discharge opening'of the il'et-aining device and at a distance from Asaid opening; thcintcrspace between saidt discharge openingand the nozzle being tree Y of obstructions, anda plurality of Aobstructionsbelow the nozle arranged in series at' dilierent levels,the 'obstructions ofY one series 95 extending transy'erscly through the towerinj 'u a direction dii'ere'iitfrom the obstructions in:Y

the other series.

, Signed. atsohitag, Illinois, iii'is t`wety. fthrday OfAMarchglOlQ- 'Y l 'l I WAILLpIAM H.. SILLS 

